Time to lose weight.. the epic log.

I used to be 330lbs and most of it was fat. I took up boxing, and then MMA, and along the way figured out how to eat clean, took a bunch of "supplements" and eventually ended up a pretty lean 200lbs.

And then i got married

In the intervening three years since my wedding, i have gained around 80lbs, most of it is fat. I have consistently had issues eating right, and routinely give in to my cravings to eat out crappy food.

When i lost weight i was very disciplined and ate mainly wheat pasta, brown rice, chicken breast, tuna - the works.

Unfortunately, my wife hates tuna, not a big fan of veggies, and does not like wheat pasta OR brown rice. I am the cook of the house, and i have a hard time making seperate meals for us, although i may have to.

I have found some alternatives, instead of brown rice, i switched to white basmati which is still a moderate/low gi food. Also i switched to Smart pasta which is high fibre and protein.

In January i made a decision to get back in shape, no matter how long it took, and lost 10lbs right away (290-280) but have been stuck ever since. My exercise routine has been wildly varied and not consistent. I have managed to routinely play squash once a week and box for an hour once a week.

This will be a log of my struggle to return to a normal weight and get rid of the belly once and for all! I will post my exercise routine and diet for critique, and hopefully i can get some accountability and motivation from others, god knows i need it.

Now i like to exercise, its the diet that is going to be hell to work out.

I am an Endo to the core, so carbs need to be minimized. I will for sure need help figuring this out. To start i am going to shoot for 2500 cals per day and adjust from there - as that was working for me earlier in the year.

I was right around your weight 285 @ 5'8" and a major fat ass. Been up and down the 200's most of my life and the last time i was 199 has to be the 7th or 8th grade (im 31 now). But about 2 years ago (mid may 2007) i hit 285 and was so disapointed in myself for getting so bad. Fast forward to now im currently 225 and still loosing. I can almost see the 200lb mark which is a far cry from 285 and i know just how you feal about being stuck at a certain weight. You have to look at it in small terms, set your goal to a 5lb drop meaning dont look at the big picture just concentrate on getting down that next 5lbs. You need to do atleast 30 min of cardio 5 or more days a week, would be better if you did 45 min 5 days a week but you can work up to that. Plan your meals and cook most of your main meals in one day like 10 chicken breasts. Then get yourself thoes rubbermaid take along food trays and fill them with the chicken breast on a bed of brown rice and on the side compartment you can put a handfull of veggies. If you do it that way you will have the meals you need and just cook the otherdays for your wife or make her lazy ass cook for herself lol.. I have other tips for you as well if you need the help or even to just talk and let you know what i did. Im currently on a keto diet (low low carbs -40 a day) and currently took off 10 or so lbs in the last month so its working for me. It is very rough to cut the carbs since im endo as well and crave the damn sugar but after the first week you get use to it and you do have a 1 day refeed/cheat day.. Should check it out..

When i first lost all the weight i did a CKD for about half of it, it really helps me to cut the carbs (although i HATE IT) but i cant do it anymore.
Good call on the pre cooking of chicken and rice, hell thats what i used to do, but i guess i have been too lazy to do it lately.

I think i will give that a go, it will probably make meal planning a hell of a lot easier.

the main issue i had and i think most fat people have is the lack of putting everything together first then go and do it. I think most tend to say start hitting the gym but then flunk out when it comes time to diet cause its not planned out meaning having all the items you need,planned work out and cardio ideas as well as the odd things like having a proper gym bag,towel,gym clothes. I know for me i would go hit the gym then get a little pissed since i didn't have a towel,didn't have any deodorant in my gym bag or an mp3 player. I would always say "ill stop at walmart and pick that stuff up" which then i was already into my second week lacking thoes things. I will tell you that the mp3 player sure does help pass the time on the treadmill and was a damn good investment. To this day i get pissed if im on the treadmill and the mp3 player goes dead cause i didnt charge it. Just not the same motivation as if i had been using it..This planning goes for food as well. Don't go into a supermarket and think your just going to go get salad,chicken,tuna and come out with that stuff cause you going to forget some things like eggs/egg whites and that will mess up you meal planning. I usually go to costco (saves money and the meat quality is better) and i now have typical things i pick up and use to getting.

If im not doing ckd/keto

1.Wheat bread/wheat hamburger rolls
2.Chicken---could be legs,wings,breasts--depends on what i picked up the last time
3.Big bag of salad and sometimes fruit like strawberries/grapes/apples
4.100% fruit juice of some kind-- could be cranberry/orange/apple--but has to be just juice.
5.Turkey burgers
6.Samon burgers
7.Eggs and egg whites
8.Skim milk
9.Cottage cheese
10.Fat free sugar free yogurt
11.Big bag of mixed veggies
12.Turkey bacon--im currently hooked on this **** and is ok on ketto--woo hooo
13.Almonds

and a few other things but you get the point. Just take a look at most peoples diets and write down what they eat. Now of course if you were to do keto again you would know what not to get lol...

Now for the kitchen
I finally got my fat ass to get a scale yes, a scale to weigh some of my foods espically things like almonds as a serving size is one ounce which is small as hell but had no idea how small an ounce was till i weighed them and let me tell you i was eating about 10 times that amount daily before the scale, ok maybe not 10 times but definately a crap load.. Here is what you should have

1. A scale to weigh your food so you know how much your eating
2. A calorie counter or a note book to write down what your eating and the macro's ---you would be suprised to know what you thought you were eating and what you really are eating once you take note of it..
3. Plastic containers like the rubbermaid take alongs-- get a crap load of these things and all different sizes and compartments. If you cook ahead of time you can fill all the trays and freze half of them to use later, makes for packing food so easy-- open fridge and pick an already cooked meal--simple,easy, and no mind games for later in the day when you do get hungry cause you already know what your going to eat..
4. Having good cooking items like a good pot/pan can help but you probably have that already.
5. Some kind of good cooking spray to spray the pan when cooking eggs and such/try not to use butter

cant think of much more at the momen but start writing things down that you should have. Maybe you need a good pair of running shoes but not thinking of it till you go and take a walk and realize you have ****ty shoes for walking. Will only piss you off once you start walking.. catch my drift...

I definately concur on the scale... I picked one up just a couple months ago and was amazed at the serving sizes of some things, and alternately, how much more i used to eat of certain items.
Nuts are a killer there, a 300 cal serving is so small when i am done them i dont psychologically feel fulfilled like i just ate 300 calories.

Thanks for the list! i get many of those things, but i am missing some quick easy things like turkey burgers (and turkey bacon? that sounds sweet!)

And i guess i just need to buckle down and write out the calories. I have always avoided this like the plague, but funny thing is, when i was most successful i would write down the calories of what i ate at night on fitday. I need to do one or the other for sure, it is like a constant accountability partner. Pretty hard to go chow on nachos when you know you have to enter a whole wack of calories, carbs, and fat into your journal.

As for a quick update.

Ate clean most of yesterday until danger struck. I had just gotten a paper back (im in university) with a terrible mark. I was pissed off and saw a barbeque selling hotdogs. I ended up eating 2 (they were only 1$ each AHH).
But other than that snafu my diet was decent, as i clean up my kitchen it will get tighter.

Went to the gym and lifted last night. Funny thing, i looked at my workout log and the last time i lifted weights was last february, i was blown away with how long it has been.
Did a full body compound press workout, felt great and i feel nicely sore - not too much.

Have another workout planned later on this week, and some stairs either today or tommorow (prob tommorow)

Its a rough time to switch diets as im very broke (unusually so) right now, i have been trying to get by using the food i have available.
The week was great, but as the holiday weekend rolled around, i had 3 dinners in a row that were bad news.
I tried to moderate, but was unsuccesful. I think i need to plan for the 'diet buster' situations better.

On the other hand, i have been consistently getting to the gym, which is fantastic. Already only three workouts in my DOMS has been reduced to a managable level. The first workout really kicked my ass even though i went light.

Im going to start incorporating some MMA into my workout this week, as well as some morning boxing sessions (already paid up, i might as well).

As soon as i get paid i can go shopping for some more freindly food, the stuff i have around the house is not necissarily bad, i just do not have access to enough protein or vegetables.

I started to take creatine, partly for kicks, partly to help with my lifting recovery, and partly to help motivate me. I had a kilo sitting around, so why not.

Ok so after taking a couple days off, i hit my 6-7 boxing session this morning, which was alright. Then later on in the afternoon i checked out this brand new MMA gym that just opened up near me, got a great workout there and made buds with the owner, very cool guy, we sparred for a bit. Anyways, got two pretty decent workouts in, and now that i joined the gym, i can go train there anytime i want, which is convenient.
I will probably lift tommorow, if nothing else.

Diet has been good lately for the most part. I got some ground turkey and mixed it with extra lean ground beef and some seasonings (secret recipe) for some killer lean burgers. I have been eating those lately with whole grain buns, i estimate that it is pretty close to a 40-40-20 meal, but i need to figure out the calories per serving size of burger (fitday here i come).

I am feeling more motivated than ever, this log is really helping me reflect and focus
Friday im going to weigh in on my wii fit, will post what it is. Also will set goals to meet.

Cheers
Kris

(edit: Fitday says that a 6oz burger is going to be around 340 cals, 37g protein, 20g fat, so with a 200 cal bun with around 40g carbs, that is pretty close to a 40-40-20 meal, i think its going to become a staple.)

Weighed in this morning down 3LBS from last week!
Down to 275. Goal is set to lose 2lbs a week, so i am on target so far.

Eating has not been as good as i would have liked. Not having proper groceries has been a pain, but i have been shooting for 40-40-20, and have been relatively successful. I went shopping yesterday, and will hit up costco hopefully tommorow for a couple boxes of chicken and some lean pork.

I have been hitting the MMA gym as much as my sore muscles will allow (which at this point is every couple days) fortunately, as my body gets used to the intense cardio, i should be fine. The boxing and mma stuff is really intense, and assuming i stick with it, will be a key component in my returning to leanness.

Need to work on my weekends, i tend to overeat on the weekend evenings (at dinner) as i have been constantly eating out with family or friends or whatnot, and have had control issues. I will have to be more conscious about my eating during those periods.

Well, this weekend ended up being cleaner than last weekend thankfully, i am really trying to clean up the weekend eating habits.

Had friday sparring, and saturday cardio (heavy bag, padwork), took sunday off (and ate a bit too much clean food), and was back at it this morning with a workout similar to last mondays, except my cardio was much better so i could go for longer and harder.

I had the opportunity to do some grocery shopping, and have restocked much of my fridge and freezer with cleaner higher protein and lower carb foods.

I have this week off and then spring semester starts on may 4. At which time i will have to settle into some kind of routine, i guess ill cross that bridge when i come to it.

Last week i ran out of protein powder, and for the same price as the usual dymatize elite, was this "12 hour" dymatize protein, so i picked it up. It is a blend of isolate, milk, egg and whey concentrate proteins (imsure im missing something) and while it does not taste as good as regular elite, it seems fine so far. I also thought i would give MCT's a go as i have always heard good things about replacing fat in diet with MCT's. Dosing between 15-30g a day.

ALso, when i was going through some storage stuff on sunday i found my old stash of EC!! About 3 bottles of vasopro 25mg ephedrine and some biox caffiene. Needless to say, i am now on it again. I always responded very well to a EC stack, and i really value the appetite suppression, especially for the first bit as i clean things up.

Down the road i would like to try DCP, but im promising myself ill wait until i hit 250 to try it. I have taken LX before and responded well, i may give that a go at some point with rALA.

Anyways, im loving the EC right now, right down memory lane of waking up (when i lived in an mma gym) popping an EC and jumping into an hour long MMA Cardio session (catbolism city!)

Well, im just going to assume me jumping up like 5lbs is the creatine working...

Other than that, had a great workout yesterday, not nearly as sore the day after as i was after last weeks workout (i had to take 3 days off i was so sore). Today was no workout, but i have slo-pitch tonight, so there will be some sprinting involved.
Last night was my dads birthday and i had pizza and cheescake!! AH not really helping the cause am I...

I need to plan in advance what im going to eat on days like that. My daytime nutrition has been good lately, just need to focus on nighttime feeding habits.

Well after a week of good eating, hard exercise and the ec stack to help with the appetite and energy levels, im down to 278 (was 275, then creatine added about 5lbs, now im down to 278)

I was busy all weekend at a conference, and suffered an injury late last week, probably from grappling. I had a spasm in my neck that required multiple chiro visits to fix. My jaw is also a little messed from sparring on thursday, i seem to have something wrong with the right side where the jaw meets up with the rest of my skull, it is very tender right at the joint. This is a remnant of an old injury, but i am confident it too will pass.

Workin hard, the hCG i ordered will be getting shipped on monday, and hopefully, by the end of the month i will have started a new log testing out the merits of the so called hcg diet. Complete with BF% testing and daily reports.

whats up man..u and i have just about the same stats except i am at like 315lbs. i am 5'11. my goal is to lose 100lbs. if u could give me any tips that would be greatly appreciated. i have joined fit day and cant wait to start! i work from 2pm-10pm, what would be a good schedule as far as waking up, eating, working out?? i am a newbie so i apologize for asking for this much info, however i would appreciate it..thanks!

whats up man..u and i have just about the same stats except i am at like 315lbs. i am 5'11. my goal is to lose 100lbs. if u could give me any tips that would be greatly appreciated. i have joined fit day and cant wait to start! i work from 2pm-10pm, what would be a good schedule as far as waking up, eating, working out?? i am a newbie so i apologize for asking for this much info, however i would appreciate it..thanks!

Eating has been clean lately.
I started taking greens+ from genuine health. I feel like my appetite has gone down in conjunction with them, and i feel more energetic and clean for some reason.
the EC stack has been working well for me, i am sitting at 25mg/400mg e/c/ per day during the week, and off during the weekend.

I will be starting a detailed hCG diet log at the end of the month (bf%, daily weigh ins etc) so be sure to check that out. For now im basically preparing for it by trying to clean up my body and diet. Im trying to stay away from artificial sweeteners, preservatives, that kind of crap.